The engine pumping torque that is to say the loss relative to the engine torque (or engine resist torque) due to the pumping work of the piston(s) during the intake and exhaust phases, is one of the quantities that have to be known to the electronic engine control units that determine the engine control laws based on a set of parameters characterizing the engine and also on various quantity measurements or estimates.
Patent application EP 1 347 163 discloses a method of estimating the engine pumping torque that takes into account the presence of a particulate filter in the engine's exhaust line. This method assumes in particular at the pressure upstream of the turbine is known, which pressure is usually measured by means of a sensor. However, such a sensor is not always available, thereby making the estimation described unusable.
Moreover, even in the presence of such a sensor, there may be difficulties or uncertainties in measuring this pressure. In this case, estimating the pumping torque according to the method of document EP 1 347 163 proves to be inaccurate or unusable.